Posted on 02/08/2016 7:54:23 AM PST by SeekAndFind
The failure of Canada's majority Conservative government to win re-election on October 17, 2015 should serve as an object lesson to the Republican establishment in the United States. Among a number of reasons for the debacle, the abandonment or weakening of first principles in the name of pragmatic and ideological compromise was a major factor leading to the Conservative defeat.
The Tories attempted to cater to non-conservative voters, to appeal to a broad constituency, to be liked, to be moderate, by softening the party's message and gutting many of its programs. Perhaps most obviously, they drew back from significantly defunding and at least partially privatizing our deep-left state-supported national broadcaster, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.
The CBC is a cultural Marxist production that never met a Conservative policy it liked. It sees its mandate as constantly attacking every Conservative idea or piece of legislation while propagandizing on behalf of multiculturalism; Islam as a religion of peace; anti-Zionism; and radical movements such as Occupy Wall Street, Idle No More, and #BlackLivesMatter.
It sided with Canada's two socialist parties, the Liberals and the New Democratic Party (NDP). But aside from legislating a small reduction in the CBC's operating budget, the Conservatives allowed the "MotherCorp" to continue shilling for the opposition. Afraid of giving its foes something to be offended by, the Conservative government funded its own demise.
No less catastrophic, the Conservatives failed to pass legislation to radically protect free speech across the country -- legislation that would outrank our provincial kangaroo courts, known as Human Rights Commissions, whose mandate has been to prosecute individual citizens and groups on the flimsy grounds of "hate speech." Aside from the fact that leaving these provincial tribunals in place did not garner a single bit of support or sympathy from the social justice totalitarians,
(Excerpt) Read more at americanthinker.com ...
Oh good grief. Wrong.
Canada is a different culture and people. VERY different. The Conservatives weren’t beaten, they were wiped and it wasn’t because they weren’t “more Conservative”. You don’t vote full on Liberal because your side isn’t “conservative enough”.
This is what Canadians wanted (to their ultimate detriment). But trying to glean lessons from something that is apples and oranges is a recipe for disaster.
I agree. The Liberals wiped the map with Stephen Harper. Because apparently that is what the vast majority of Canadians wanted. An unforced error or two in the Conservative platform was not the cause of the tsunami.
One must never, ever, ever, ever even think of compromising with the Left. To them a compromise is THEY WIN. The Left never compromises, therefore the Right must never compromise.
The Left’s creed IS “OUR WAY, OR THE HIGHWAY”.
Never EVEN think “reaching across the aisle” will gain anything. To do so will only gain more grief.
Sometimes I think ONLY parents of grown children, the people that have been through it all should be able to vote, as they know how to deal with Democrats.
The GOP pledged they were going to enact voter ID laws, electoral votes awarded by congressional district (same as Maine and Nebraska) and no more funding of Democrat campaigns by forced union dues from teachers.
Fast forward and the GOP tried the same play nice strategy. The voter ID law was passed but negated by a single judge. The electoral vote law was introduced but never got out of committee because the state GOP chair thought it would diminish his national influence. And the forced union dues, after seeing the hissy fit which unfolded in Wisconsin, was quietly put on the shelf.
During the very day of the 2014 primary, a judge decided Pennsylvania had to recognize gay marriage and Corbett meekly announced he would comply. Toomey finally say the light and withdrew his co-sponsorship of a "moderate" gun control bill with Joe Manchin of West Virginia and the furthest left candidate won the Democrat Primary.
Corbett went on to defeat in November by almost exactly the same margin by which he won in 2010, the only Republican governorship to change party control in the exact same year when far more liberal Maryland elected a Republican governor, the GOP took control of the U.S. Senate and increased their majority in the house.
There ought to be a lesson here as well for the GOPe.
The only silver lining in PA is that Wolf is such a rock-ribbed leftist ideologue he appears a one-termer headed straight for the iceberg.
There was more to it. The Conservatives spent a year or more demonizing Justin Trudeau as a lightweight, then said at the end of their commercials that it might only be temporary and he might be experienced enough some day. Never once that I can remember did they say he was WRONG, and never until a very lame ad near campaign’s end did they actually give a reason to vote FOR them.
An embarrassingly stupid campaign in which they undoubtedly made some very stupid consultants wealthy.
Morons.
cheers from Calgary,
Jim
The Ryan/obummer budget strikes again:-)
Wolf thinks he is another Barack ObaMao of a different color who will skate through.
And while it doesn't play well on FR, Baraq Obama is what Americans wanted. America is changing day by day.
Increasingly I am becoming alarmed that Bernie Sanders may indeed be what Americans want next.
Stephen Harper was the most sincere and the most committed defender of Israel of all other national leaders.
Did that play any role in the election?
Do Canada's universities and Left wing political parties voice the same kind of anti-Israel and anti-Jew sentiments that are now so common in America?
As a frequent visitor to Canada and Calgary, my belief was that the political sea change was driven by Canada’s faltering commodity-based economy radiating outward from the conservative middle provinces. Canada’s hot real estate market has been in bubble territory, despite no favorable tax treatment for mortgages.
I have watched the Loonie swoon to US$.70 ($.72 today). That alone should make Canadian real estate attractive to Americans. Yet, falling real estate prices in Alberta could (and likely did) foment upset - this I believe that this was Harper’s Achilles heel.
Also after that a-hole Republican judge forced homo-marriage on Pennsylvania, the next state election that featured judges running for election (in PA the judges campaign for office every 10 years) the 3 Republican candidates were all wiped out. Pennsylvanians did not forget what the Republican judge did to them.
Maybe, but Harper had a pretty good record on the economy, though he chickened out on being truly conservative and taking any bold action.
I’m hoping there’s a nice gulch out there in the Rockies where my family can hide to ride out the coming crapolafest.
Cheers,
Jim
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.